DAMON'S 

LINCOLN 

SERMON 


A  Discourse  Preached  by 

Rev.  Samuel  Chenery  Damon 

in 

Honolulu,  Haivail 

14  May,  1865 


1917 
WILLIAM  M.  CLEMENS 

PUBLISHER 
56  &  58  Pine  Street  New  York  City,  N.  Y. 


DAMON'S 

LINCOLN 

SERMON 


A  Discoarse  Preacbed  by 

Rev.  Samuel  Chenery  Damon 

In 

Honolulu,  Hai/vaii 

14  May»1865 


1917 
WILLIAM  M.  CLEMENS 

PUBLISHER 
56  &  58  Pine  Street  New  York  Citj,  N.  Y. 


(Over  a  half  a  century  ago,  in  the  Seaman's  Chapel,  Honolulu,  on  14 
May,  1865,  the  Reverend  S.  C.  Damon  preached  the  following  sermon  on 
the  assassination  of  Lincoln.  It  was  pubUshed  in  The  Friend  of  1  June, 
1865,  and  is  republished  at  this  time  as  a  chapter  of  historic  and  religious 
literature  that  should  not  be  forgotten.— Editor.) 


^-7-2.7/^3  ,'    '■•    .-V       f^oo. 


/Sify/^7^ 


DAMON'S  LINCOLN  SERMON 

IN  THE  ADMINISTRATION  of  the  affairs  of  this 
world  God  is  ever  doing  and  permitting  things  to  be  done 
the  reasons  for  which  cannot  be  seen  by  shortsighted 
mortals.  Such  is  God's  method  of  proceeding  that  we  are 
continually  compelled  to  take  many  things  on  trust. 
Faith  in  Him  is  the  great  lesson  which  He  is  ever  teaching 
mankind.  He  has  drawn  an  impenetrable  veil  before  our 
eyes,  shutting  out  the  future  from  our  view.  "Ye  know 
not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow,"  or  "what  a  day  may 
bring  forth."  How  impressively  these  scriptural  declara- 
tions and  those  of  my  text  are  illustrated  by  events  which 
have  recently  transpired  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe. 
All  the  loyal  people  of  that  great  country,  stretching  from 
the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  the  Gulf 
to  the  Lakes,  were  preparing  for  such  a  day  of  thanks- 
giving and  jubilee  as  never  had  been  witnessed  on  the 
western  continent.  The  national  feeling,  which,  during 
the  four  years  of  civil  war  had  been  repressed,  was  rising, 
and  about  to  burst  forth  in  such  scenes  and  shouts  of  re- 
joicing as  would  have  made  the  "welkin  ring."  The  dove 
of  peace  which  had,  during  those  four  long  years,  been  con- 
fined to  the  ark,  rocked  and  tossed  upon  the  troubled 
waters  of  civil  strife,  political  contentions  and  cruel  war, 
had  now  been  released,  and  with  the  olive  branch  in  her 
mouth,  was  winging  her  flight  over  mountains  and  valleys 
broad  savannahs  and  boundless  prairies.  The  good  news 
was  flashed  with  lightning  speed  over  the  land  and  the 
world.  The  dark  clouds  were  rolling  away,  and  the  sun 
of  the  nation's  glory  was  beginning  to  shine,  and  the  rain- 
bow of  peace  was  distinctly  seen  spanning  a  continent, 


as  in  days  of  yore,  when  lo!  from  the  receding  black  clouds 
of  secession,  treachery  and  slavery,  there  darted  forth  a 
fiendish   arm,   holding  in  its  hand   an   assassin's   dagger. 
The  whole  scene  is  instantly  changed.     For  a  moment  the 
pulse  and  heart  of  the  nation  cease  to  beat,  but  the  next 
instant  there  follows  a  sigh  of  anguish  and  wail  of  sorrow. 
Abraham  Lincoln,  our  beloved  president,  is  dead!  I  do  not 
believe,  since  the  creation  of  the  world,  so  many  hearts, 
in  so  short  a  space  of  time,  ever  mourned  over  the  death 
of  a  single  human  being.     There  is  no  disputing  or  gain- 
saying  the   fact,    Abraham   Lincoln   had   gradually    been 
winning  for  himself  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  American 
people  second  only  to  that  of  Washington,  the  father  of  his 
country.     But  will  not  the  people  now  call  him  the  savior 
of  the  country,  when  the  life  of  the  nation  was  threatened? 
This  most  tragic  event  is  not  an  accident.     It  is  not 
the  work  of  chance.     We  do  not  live  in  a  world  ruled  over 
by  blind  fate.     Never  before  did  I  realize  there  was  so 
much  force  and  intensity  of  meaning  in  those  words  of  our 
Savior:  "But  the  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  num- 
bered," and  even  a  sparrow  "shall  not  fall  on  the  ground 
without  your  Father."     I  do  not  think  there  ever  was  a 
public  man  who  recognized  more  clearly  and  fully  this 
doctrine  of  God's  special  providence  than  did  our  lamented 
President.     Gathered  as  we  now  are  in  the  house  of  God 
on  this  first  Sabbath  morning  after  having  received  the 
news  of  his  death,  how  can  I  more  appropriately  employ 
the  usual  time  allotted  to  a  discourse  than  by  directing 
your  minds  to  some  of  those  moral  and  spiritual  lessons 
taught   by   this    most   sad   and   melancholy   event.     The 
telegraphic  intelligence  which  has  reached  the  Island  is 
quite  sufficient  to  disclose  the  naked  facts,  but  insufficient 
to  portray  the  effects  upon  the  country  at  large.     Under 
these  circumstances,  perhaps  I  may  be  allowed  to  dwell 
U[^n  the  religious  features  of   Mr.   Lincoln's  character. 
He  was  a  public  man,  and  had  been  called  to  occupy  a 

4 


most  responsible  and  trying  public  position.  He  fully 
realized  this  fact  from  the  very  moment  that  he  stepped 
forth  from  the  sphere  of  a  private  American  citizen  to 
occupy  the  highest  position  within  the  gift  of  his  country- 
men His  brief  address  on  leaving  his  home  at  Springfield, 
Illinois,  is  inimitably  beautiful:  "My  Friends: — No  one 
not  in  my  position  can  appreciate  the  sadness  I  feel  at  this 
parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all  that  I  am.  Here  I  have 
lived  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century;  here  my  children 
were  born,  and  here  one  of  them  lies  buried.  I  know  not 
how  soon  I  shall  see  you  again.  A  duty  devolves  upon  me 
which  is  perhaps  greater  than  that  which  has  devolved 
upon  any  other  man  since  the  days  of  Washington.  He 
never  would  have  succeeded  except  for  the  aid  of  Divine 
Providence,  upon  which  he  at  all  times  relied.  I  feel  that 
I  cannot  succeed  without  the  same  Divine  aid  which  sus- 
tained him,  and  on  the  same  Almighty  Being  I  place  my 
reliance  for  support.  I  hope  you,  my  friends,  will  pray 
that  I  may  receive  that  Divine  assistance  without  which 
I  cannot  succeed,  but  with  which  success  is  certain.  I 
bid  you  all  an  affectionate  farewell." 

During  the  delivery  of  this  short  address  the  audience 
was  much  affected  and  when  it  closed  there  was  the  hearty 
response,  "We  will  pray  for  you."  During  his  progress 
to  Washington  he  uttered  similar  sentiments  at  Columbus 
and  Steubenville,  in  Ohio,  ever  expressing  the  hope  that 
he  should  be  sustained  by  the  prayers  of  the  American 
people.  In  this  address  we  have  the  keynote  to  all  his 
subsequent  addresses,  letters,  proclamations  and  public 
documents.  I  cannot  recall  a  single  one  in  which  he  did 
not  fully  and  frankly  recognize  God's  agency  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  affairs  of  this  world.  His  allusions  to  an 
overruling  Providence  were  not  in  a  half-apologistic  and 
semi-infidel  style,  as  if  he  wished  to  conciliate  the  feelings 
of  Christians,  while  at  the  same  time  he  had  no  very  clear 
and  definite  idea  of  what  he  was  saying  or  writing.     Read 

5 


his  second  inaugural,  on  the  4th  of  last  March.  The 
staunchest  and  most  orthodox  divine  could  not  have  given 
utterance  to  more  evangelical  doctrines  or  religious  senti- 
ments. He  quotes  and  comments  upon  the  very  words 
of  our  Divine  Savior,  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew. 
"Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offences."  Then,  too, 
with  what  masterly  emphasis  he  quotes  the  words  of  the 
Psalmist  David,  prefacing,  "If  God  wills  that  the  war  con- 
tinue until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil,  shall  be  sunk,  and 
until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid 
by  another  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thou- 
sand years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  'The  judgments 
of  the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether.'  "  Noble 
utterances  and  sublime  language,  which  will  live  as  long 
as  the  English  language  shall  be  spoken.  Such  truthful 
sayings  will  go  forth  from  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  great 
people  to  break  asunder  the  fetters  of  slavery  throughout 
the  world.  His  name  through  all  coming  time  will  be 
associated  with  that  most  important  of  all  his  state  docu- 
ments— his  Emancipation  Proclamation.  It  may  well  be 
compared  with  the  imperial  ukase  of  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, giving  liberty  to  twenty  millions  of  Russian  serfs. 
From  the  time  and  circumstances  under  which  it  was  is- 
sued it  must  ever  be  viewed  as  marking  the  transition 
point  from  slavery  to  freedom,  in  the  history  of  the  Re- 
public of  America.  I  cannot  stop  to  dwell  upon  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's efforts  and  labors  in  behalf  of  the  slaves  and  the 
colored  people  of  America.  It  was  noble  and  philan- 
thropic, and  it  doubtedless  accorded  him  unfeigned  pleas- 
ure, during  the  latter  months  of  his  eventful  life,  to  learn, 
in  so  many  ways,  that  they  appreciated  his  services.  This 
was  apparent  when  he  received  a  copy  of  the  Holy  Bible 
from  the  loyal  colored  people  of  Baltimore  as  a  token  of 
respect  and  gratitude.  They  hailed  him  as  the  "friend 
of  universal  freedom."     It  never  will  be  known  in  time 


how  many  millions  of  earnest  prayers  went  up  for  "Massa 
Linkum"  from  the  Uncle  Tom  cabins  scattered  all  over 
the  slave  States,  from  the  Potomac  to  the  Rio  Grande. 
Those  sincere  but  enslaved  people  took  hold  of  the  arm 
that  sustained  the  universe.  America  stands  forth  today 
disenthralled  and  saved,  not  merely  by  the  achievements 
of  our  noble  soldiers  and  the  masterly  statesmanship  of  our 
cabinet  ministers,  senators  and  representatives,  but  there 
was  a  power  behind  all  these  outward  manifestations. 
That  power  was  prayer— the  prayers,  too,  of  the  poor. 
Says  the  son  of  Sirach,  "A  prayer  out  of  a  poor  man's 
mouth  reacheth  to  the  ears  of  God,  and  His  judgment 
cometh  speedily."  "He  will  hear  the  prayer  of  the  op- 
pressed." "The  prayer  of  the  humble  pierceth  the  clouds, 
and  till  it  come  nigh  he  will  not  be  comforted,  and  will  not 
depart  till  the  Most  High  shall  behold  to  judge  righteous- 
ly and  execute  judgment."  Mr.  Lincoln  recognized  that 
power  of  prayer,  as  I  have  already  shown,  when  he  left  his 
home  for  the  White  House  at  Washington. 

How  intensely  interesting  the  fact  that  while  he  was 
thus  occupied  with  the  great  and  momentous  affairs  of 
thirty  millions  of  people — of  whom  four  or  five  millions 
were  in  open  rebellion,  and  a  million  more  were  girded 
as  soldiers,  yet  even  amidst  all  these  cares  he  did  not 
neglect  the  poor  who  were  his  neighbors,  as  the  following 
incident  will  show: 

A  newspaper  correspondent  from  Chicago  one  day 
dropped  in  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  and  found  him  busy  count- 
ing greenbacks.  "This,  sir,"  said  the  President,  in  his 
cheerful  way,  "is  something  out  of  my  usual  line;  but  a 
President  of  the  United  States  has  a  multiplicity  of  duties 
not  specified  in  the  Constitution  or  Acts  of  Congress. 
This  is  one  of  them.  This  money  belongs  to  a  poor  negro 
who  is  porter  in  one  of  the  departments  (the  Treasury), 
who  is  at  present  ill  with  the  small  pox.  He  is  now  in  the 
hospital  and  could  not  draw  his  pay  because  he  could  not 


sign  his  name.  I  have  been  at  considerable  trouble  to 
overcome  the  difficulty  and  get  it  for  him,  and  have  at 
length  succeeded  in  cutting  red  tape,  as  you  newspapermen 
say.  I  am  now  dividing  the  money  and  putting  by  a 
portion  labeled,  in  an  envelope,  with  my  own  hands,  ac- 
cording to  his  wish."  Such  unostentatious  acts  of  kind- 
ness need  no  comment.  Our  Savior  said,  when  upon 
earth:  "And  whosoever  shall  give  to  drink  unto  one  of 
these  little  ones  a  cup  of  cold  water  only  in  the  name  of  a 
disciple,  verily  I  say  unto  you  he  shall  in  no  wise  lose  his 
reward."  I  doubt  not  that  the  good  man  is  now  reaping 
his  reward  in  glory  for  befriending  the  poor  colored  porter 
who  could  not  write  his  name — sick  with  the  smallpox 
in  the  hospital.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  American 
citizen  at  home  and  abroad,  however  humble  his  lot,  was 
not  forgotten  by  him.  When  it  was  reported  at  Wash- 
ington through  the  correspondence  of  our  minister,  to  Mr. 
Seward,  that  a  sailor  had  been  ill-treated  at  the  Marquesas 
Islands,  Mr.  Lincoln  immediately  directs  that  five  hun- 
dred dollars  in  gold  be  devoted  to  the  purchase  of  presents 
to  be  distributed  among  Hawaiian  missionaries  and  others 
who  had  rescued  the  unfortunate  man. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  very  last  public 
address  which  Mr.  Lincoln  ever  made,  March  1 7th,  was  in 
reference  to  colored  soldiers  being  employed  by  the  rebels. 
He  remarked  that  he  hoped  they  would  try  the  experi- 
ment! In  all  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  colored  people 
of  America  he  has  endeavored  to  manage  the  subject  with 
an  enlightened  regard  to  the  highest  Christian  duty  to  his 
country  and  to  God.  Having  shown  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  actuated  as  a  public  officer  by  Christian  principle,  I  am 
fully  confident  that  he  was  truly  an  experimental  Christian, 
one  whose  Christianity  did  not  begin  and  end  in  a  mere 
formal  acknowledgment  of  Divine  Providence.  The  fol- 
lowing incident  is  reported  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Adams,  a 
Presbyterian  minister  of  Philadelphia.     He  was  on  a  visit 

8 


to  Washington,  and  had  made  an  appointment  to  call  upon 
the  President  at  the  White  House,  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. Says  Mr.  Adams,  "Morning  came,  and  I  hastened 
my  toilet  and  found  myself  at  a  quarter  to  five  in  the 
waiting  room  of  the  President.  I  asked  the  usher  if  I 
could  see  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  said  I  could  not.  'But  I  have 
an  engagement  to  meet  him  this  morning.'  'At  what 
hour?*  'At  5  o'clock.'  'Well,  sir,  he  will  see  you  at  5.' 
I  then  walked  to  and  fro  for  a  few  minutes,  and  hearing  a 
voice,  as  if  in  grave  conversation,  I  asked  the  servant, 
'Who  is  talking  in  the  next  room?'  'It  is  the  President, 
sir.*  'Is  anybody  with  him?*  'No,  sir;  he  is  reading  the 
Bible.'  'Is  that  his  habit  so  early  in  the  morning?'  'Yes, 
sir;  he  spends  every  morning  from  4  o'clock  to  5  in  reading 
the  scriptures  and  praying.*  "  How  beautiful  an  illustra- 
tion this  is  of  the  injunction  of  our  Savior,  "But  thou,  when 
thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  pray  to  thy  Father 
which  is  in  secret."  How  beautiful  an  instance  of  one  who 
followed  our  Savior's  devotional  habit,  who,  "in  the  morn- 
ing, rising  up  a  great  while  before  day."   went  out  and 

prayed. 

"Prayer  ardent  opens  heaven,  lets  down  a  stream 
Of  glory  on  the  concentrated  hour 
Of  man,  and  audience  with  the  Diety!" 

The  following  incident,  however,  sets  forth  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's views  upon  the  question  of  vital  godliness,  in  the 
very  strongest  light:  Several  months  before  his  ever-to- 
be-lamented  death  a  gentleman  called  upon  him  on  busi- 
ness. After  the  business  was  closed  and  they  were  about 
to  part  the  gentleman  said  to  the  President,  "On  leaving 
home  a  friend  requested  me  to  ask  Mr.  Lincoln  whether  he 
loved  Jesus.**  The  gentleman  makes  the  following  re- 
port: "The  President  buried  his  face  in  his  handkerchief, 
turned  away  and  wept."  He  then  turned  and  said,  "When 
I  left  home  to  take  the  chair  of  state  I  requested  my  coun- 
trymen to  pray  for  me.  I  was  not  then  a  Christian.  When 
my  son  died — the  severest  trial  of  my  life — I  was  not  a 

9 


Christian.  But  when  I  went  to  Gettysburg  and  looked 
upon  the  graves  of  our  dead  heroes  who  had  fallen  in  de- 
fense of  their  country,  I  then  and  there  consecrated  my- 
self to  Christ.  /  do  love  JesusV  This  simple  and  touch- 
ing confession  needs  no  comment.  It  opens  to  the  world 
the  heart  and  religious  experience  of  the  good  ^man.  The 
people  felt  that  he  was  honest  in  all  his  dealings  with  them, 
and  so  he  was  equally  honest  with  himself  and  God.  These 
few  simple  utterances,  welling  up  from  the  depths  of  his 
heart,  and  accompanied  with  tears,  will  ever  be  cherished 
by  Christians  of  every  name  and  sect  as  the  most  precious 
sayings  of  his  life.  They  touch  the  tenderest  chord  in  the 
Christian's  heart.  Christians  of  every  name  will  ever  re- 
gard him  as  a  brother  beloved,  but  departed,  and  when 
thinking  of  him  as  departed  the  language  of  the  burial  ser- 
vice will  not  be  inappropriate:  "It  hath  pleased  Al- 
mighty God,  in  His  wise  providence  to  take  out  of  this 
world  the  soul  of  our  deceased  Brother!" 

Think,  not,  my  hearers,  that  I  have  brought  forward 
these  facts  and  incidents  in  the  life  of  our  lamented  Presi- 
dent because  I  think  it  requires  an  argument  in  the  style 
of  special  pleading  to  prove  his  adherence  to  the  principles 
of  Christianity  and  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Testament. 
No;  his  Christian,  as  well  as  his  public  and  political 
character,  is  known  and  read  of  all  men.  With  him  there 
was  no  reserve  or  concealment.  His  character  was  per- 
fectly transparent.     His  faults  as  well  as  his  virtues  were 

equally  apparent. 

"And  e'en  his  failings  lean'd  to  virtue's  side." 

He  went  to  the  theater  on  that  fatal  night,  the  tele- 
graph informs  us,  because  he  wished  to  please  his  friends 
and  not  disappoint  the  people,  who  were  expecting  the 

presence  of  Gen.  Grant. 

"His  life  was  gentle;  and  the  elements 
So  mixed  in  his  that  Nature  might  stand  up 
And  say  to  all  the  world.  This  was  a  man!" 

In  turning  our  thoughts  from  a  contemplation  of  his 

10 


character  to  our  bleeding  country,  the  question  forces 
itself  upon  every  thoughtful  mind,  what  will  be  the  effect  of 
Abraham  Lincoln's  assassination  upon  the  Nation?  Our 
latest  dates  afford  us,  as  yet,  no  facts  by  which  we  can 
satisfactorily  answer  this  question.  Time  must  de- 
termine. Our  minds  must  for  the  present  find  consolation 
in  dwelling  upon  the  great  truth  that  God  lives  and  reigns, 
and  that  He  is  able  and  "will  make  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  Him."  We  may  also  recall  to  mind  some  of  those 
pages  of  history  wherein  somewhat  similar  events  are  re- 
corded. When  Brutus  and  his  fellow-assassins  smote 
down  Caesar  in  the  senate  at  Rome  they  supposed  that 
with  Caesar's  death  Caesar  s  influence  would  no  longer  be 
felt.  They  were  disappointed.  Caesar,  disappeared,  but, 
exclaims  Cicero,  "All  the  acts  of  Caesar's  life,  his  writings, 
his  words,  his  promises,  thoughts,  are  more  powerful  after 
his  death  than  if  he  were  still  alive."  So  I  trust,  and 
doubt  not,  it  will  be  with  the  life,  writings,  words,  prom- 
ises, thoughts  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  His  blood  has 
stamped  an  impress  upon  these  which  will  immeasurably 
increase  their  value  throughout  all  coming  time. 

When  the  hired  assassin,  Balthazar  Gerard,  brought 
to  an  untimely  end  the  eventful  life  of  William  the  Silent, 
Prince  of  Orange,  on  the  1 0th  of  July,  1584,  Philip  IL,  all 
the  enemies  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  imagined  that 
with  the  death  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  would  end  his  use- 
fulness. But  how  dissappointed  were  these  men.  In  the 
beautiful  language  of  Motley,  The  Prince  was  entombed 
amid  the  tears  of  a  whole  nation.  Never  was  a  more  ex- 
tensive, unaffected  and  legitimate  sorrow  felt  at  the  death 
of  any  human  being.  As  long  as  he  lived  he  was  the 
guiding  star  of  a  whole  brave  nation,  and  when  he  died  the 
little  children  cried  in  the  streets."  The  commonwealth 
which  William  had  liberated  forever  from  Spanish  tyranny 
continued  to  exist  as  a  great  and  flourishing  republic  dur- 
ing more  than  two  centuries,  under  the  successive  stadt- 

n 


holderates  of  his  sons  and  descendants.     So  I  doubt  not  a 
similar  result  will  follow  the  assassination  of  the  illustrious 
man  whose  most  unexpected  death  we  now  lament.     He 
died  the  martyr  to  liberty.     He  was  assassinated  by  the 
hand  of   Booth,   but  it   was  negro-chattel  slavery   which 
nerved  that  arm  and  prompted  that  basest  of  crimes  in  the 
annals   of   nations.     This   was   the   crowning   act   of   the 
slaveholders'    rebellion.     Sumter   was   fired   upon   on   the 
12th  of  April,  1861,  Booth  shot  President  Lincoln  on  the 
14th  of   April,    1865.     The  same  bad   animus  that   first 
struck  down  the  flag  in  '61  fired  the  assassin's  bosom  when 
he  smote  down  the  President,  commander-in-chief  of  all 
the  military  and  naval  forces  of  the  republic.     No  powers 
of  metaphysical  analysis  can  separate  the  two.     Perhaps 
it  was  needed  that  this  crime  of  crimes  should  be  perpe- 
trated to  arouse  the  minds  of  the  American  people  to  the 
awful  enormity  of  the  crime  of  slavery  and  treason.     The 
deed  has  been  accomplished,  and  henceforth  and  forever, 
in  the  minds  of  all  loyal  Americans  and  lovers  of  liberty 
throughout  the  world,  a  stigma  has  been  fastened  upon  the 
crime  of  slavery  and  treason  which  can  never  be  wiped 
away. 

The  event  to  which  your  attention  has  now  been 
called  will  not  pass  into  oblivion  and  be  forgotten.  It  was 
not  done  in  a  corner,  but  the  crime  was  perpetrated,  as  it 
were,  in  the  presence  of  a  gazing  crowd  of  spectators  in- 
finitely larger  than  that  gathered  in  the  theater  where  it 
took  place.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  assassinated  on  the 
world's  wide  stage.  There  was  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses. 
Now  what  shall  be  its  influence  upon  the  Nation  and  the 
world  we  know  not  now  but  we  shall  know  hereafter.  It 
will  be  overruled  for  good.  How  unspeakably  thankful 
we  all  should  be  that  he  was  spared  thus  long  to  the 
Nation,  even  to  see  a  virtual  ending  of  the  rebellion. 
God  permitted  this  stunning  blow  to  fall  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  some  wise  purpose.     I   do  believe  that  in 

12 


after  years  and  ages  it  will  be  seen  to  have  been  necessary 
for  bringing  about  the  final  triumph  of  justice  and  truth, 
and  the  punishment  of  the  guilty.  For  a  season  clouds 
and  darkness  may  surround  the  throne  of  God  and  en- 
velope His  plans  and  purposes,  but  ere  long  He  will  make 
all  clear  and  plain.  If  we  are  watchful  and  take  the  word 
of  God  for  our  guide  we  shall  see  the  dark  clouds  revealing 
a  rainbow  of  glorious  promise.  I  am  confident  that  a 
bright  and  glorious  future  is  opening  before  our  country. 
Let  us  be  hopeful.  Great  results  must  follow  from  these 
tragic  events  of  war  and  commotion.  Surely  we  have 
witnessed  enough  to  make  us  trustful  and  confiding.  It 
seems  to  be  a  law  or  principle  which  God  observes  in  his 
management  of  nations  as  well  as  individuals,  that  when 
He  would  bestow  some  signal  favor  He  prepares  the  way 
by  severe  chastisements.  Surely,  I  think  we  may  hope 
that  God  has  great  good  in  store  for  that  people  when  He 
shall  have  chastised  them  for  that  great  sin  of  slavery. 
That  must  be  removed  before  the  millennium  come  and 
the  Gospel  shall  everywhere  triumph.  In  the  appro- 
priate language  of  Longfellow,  I  would  exhort  you,  "Look 
not  mournfully  upon  the  past;  it  comes  not  back  again. 
Wisely  improve  the  present;  it  is  thine.  Go  forth  and 
meet  the  shadowy  future,  without  fear  and  with  a  manly 
heart."  Let  us  not  go  forth,  however,  trusting  in  an 
"arm  of  flesh,"  but  in  God,  our  Savior  and  Deliverer,  most 
fully  believing  the  sentiment  of  the  text,  "What  I  do  thou 
knowest  not  now,  but  thou  shalt  know  hereafter."  God 
is  the  Judge! 


13 


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